Since time immemorial (well, 1996), Quake has been a lot of people’s go-to when it comes to speedrunning. Already a pretty nippy FPS, id Software’s iconic shooter continues to draw in new players who are looking to break world records. And another one has just been beaten.
Over on the aptly titled YouTube channel, Quake Speedruns Explained, we are treated to details about a record that’s stood for nearly four years. As of May 2024, user Kisimov has achieved an eye-watering time of 22:582 seconds on the game’s first (in a way) map, E1M1.
Over the course of 17 minutes, we get a breakdown of what it took to achieve this target, which beats the previous world record by about half a second. Kisimov completed the level on Nightmare difficulty, rendering the time they got ever more impressive.
What the Quake?!
Although E1M1 is one of the shortest maps in the game, particularly as it’s an early one, many speedrunners have been spending decades trying to nail down the route with perfect precision. As you’ll see in the video, there’s a lot that can get in the way.
For a start, playing on Nightmare difficulty means there are more enemies who can deal more damage with greater accuracy. Add onto that the unpredictability of their movements and you have a recipe for a frustratingly difficult record-breaking attempt.
Indeed, we get to see just a small example of the tens of thousands of attempts it took Kisimov to get to the end slipgate in just 22 seconds. Grunts being in the wrong place, hitscans dealing enough damage to kill the player, or even the geometry of the map itself all contribute to restart after restart.
It’s not just the sheer tenacity in moving from point A to point B in as quick a time as possible. Along with Doom, the original Quake is pretty much the poster child for how dedicated speedrunners can be. Many commit years of their lives to fine-tuning every frame, making attempts as near to perfect as they can.
This latest record ā which has been officially acknowledged by Speedruns.com ā may not seem like much, but when the QSE host delves into the minutiae of these 22 seconds, it becomes apparent that speedrunning is serious business.
Just seeing all the failed attempts alone ā some of which take place in the first room ā is enough to put a lot of people off. I don’t know if I ever could get into it myself, especially given that the video analysis seems confident that no one will ever beat Kisimov’s E1M1 run. Though we’ve heard a line like that before.
